We’re a family of 7 people and plan to travel to Switzerland this June 2018.

The plan is to stay 2 nights in Paris and then take a train from Paris to Lucerne.

Planning to stay 3/4 nights in Lucerne hence making Lucerne as our base as it will be difficult for a family of 7 to keep on check-in different hotels.

The question is, from Paris to Lucerne, there will be a change in Basel, so I’m not sure how to buy the tickets.

1)I’m still not sure whether to get Tell-Pass or Swiss Travel Pass. Do you recommend us to buy Tell-Pass and make the most of our stay in Lucerne, since that is our base? or do you think we should buy Swiss Travel Pass and go on train journeys and come back to lucern?

2) We have made Lucerne as our base, is it recommended to take the Glacier Express and such? or will it just be a waste of time? because we have to come back to Lucerne?

3) Should I buy tickets from the SBB website Paris to Lucern or separately as in Paris to Basel, and then Basel to Lucern? Which website?

Will really appreciate if some people can help me plan on this, thank you.

I believe you should purchase the pass that fits your needs instead of creating an itinerary that suits your railway pass. If your looking for the most economical pass, you'll have to do the math to compare prices. We have information on our website that can help you:

Lucerne is not an ideal base to experience the Glacier Express unless you want to spend at least 7 hours in a train. The Glacier Express is covered by the Swiss Travel Pass. To read more about how to enjoy a part of the Glacier Express from Lucerne, visit "Don't have time to do the full route?"

If you decide to purchase the Swiss Travel Pass, you'll have to buy a ticket to Basel as the Swiss Travel Pass will cover Basel to Lucerne. If not, you'll have to buy a ticket from Paris to Lucerne.

>> and is the train timetable fixed? how to find out? since we do not require any reservation from basel to lucern, how are we supposed to know which train top hop on and at what time?

You can plan your whole trip from Paris to Luzern/Lucerne by using the Swiss Timetable. It will show you where to change trains, and even provide the platform numbers within Switzerland. You can go via Basel if you want to, but there are also other alternatives.